


Flower Girl

by KitKatCronch



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abuse, F/M, Female Reader, Flower Girl - Freeform, Friends to Lovers, It's in the past tho, There is some torture in later chapters, Torture, You get tortured, You have nature powers, Your father is an ass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 15:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18252248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitKatCronch/pseuds/KitKatCronch
Summary: The Avengers rescued you from a HYDRA lab when you were 16, finding you mute and unable to trust. You slowly regain the trust through their care and come to think of them as family. Six years later, Thor brings his brother in to learn not to terrorize Earth. Can you teach him without words? And can something else blossom?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Content Warnings: Slight torture warning and harmful thoughts and stuff. Yeah, torture. HYDRA. Dad Steve

You were sixteen when the Avengers found you in a HYDRA lab, huddled in the corner of your cell. You had multiple cuts and puncture wounds on your arms and legs from their experiments, and a jagged looking scar across your neck. Your head was hidden in your arms and, when you didn’t look up at the sound of their footsteps in front of you, they feared you were deaf, or worse, dead.

But you weren’t. You thought they were the scientists again and all the fighting was them torturing other “subjects”. Your number was 5459, though a few of them referred to you as “the LILY” because of your powers. You hated that name, they had dragged a beautiful flower down into their dirty hell on earth. Just like they had to you.

Captain America had touched your arms when you started freaking out, clawing at them and trying to run, but the fact that they had kept you fed only enough to keep you alive and you hadn’t had anything that day made you too weak to move much. Natasha was the one to calm you down, using the same method she used with Hulk. It worked easily, your eyes watched her curiously and with a small glimmer of fresh hope. No one had ever talked to you with such soft, soothing words. No one had ever talked to you with anything but false promises and threats they weren’t afraid to carry out.

“Hey, kid,” the man in a metal suit finally asked you, his mask sliding up to show his face, “what’s your name?”

You gestured to your scar on your neck, then made an x over your mouth. You were mute. You had screamed too loudly during one of their “sessions” with you, so they had taken your ability to speak to anyone again. You looked down at your hands sheepishly and shamefully, feeling like everything they had done to you was your own fault, until the woman in front of you smiled at you and offered you her hand.

“It’s okay. They can’t hurt you anymore. We’d like you to come home with us. A friend of ours may be able to help you.”

You instinctively backed yourself back into your corner, fear written all over your face. You didn’t want it to be like that place all over again. You’d been locked away, poked and prodded at, for your entire life, you had no idea who those people were or if they were as bad as the scientists who tortured you. You didn’t want the kind words to turn into threats the second you were theirs.

“You have no idea who we are, do you?” The star-spangled man asked, crouching down next to Natasha.

You shook your head, picking at one of the scabs on your knees. Anything to keep from looking them in the eye.

“We’re the Avengers. We’re the good guys, heroes. These people who had you are gone. We took care of them. They can’t hurt you again, we promise. I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you?”

You nodded slowly, looking up at the man. You saw genuine care for you in his eyes and honesty, something you had never seen before. Something that made you want so desperately to trust them, but years of torment and torture and lies had broken you down so completely, it was hard to let them help you.

“Just take my hand, okay? And I can carry you if you want, explain everything that will happen and show you if you want. If it’ll help.” He smiled kindly at you, holding out his hand to you.

Slowly, cautiously, you placed your smaller hand in his. You were small for your age and could only guess that the experiments had stunted your growth. You were barely the height of Black Widow when he pulled you to your feet.

“What are we supposed to call her?” you heard the metal clad man ask her.

“Her file said The LILY, but she probably wants a different name.”

You nodded, crouching down on the concrete floor to draw in the dirt. Slowly, spreading the dirt out evenly, you spelled out your name in small letters. You had learned how to spell by looking at the words on clipboards and hearing people read things off of them. Your spelling was off, some letters were backward and one looked more like a symbol rather than an actual letter.

“And how old are you?”

That made you pause. You had no idea how old you were. It seemed like you had been here an eternity. How long had you been treated like an animal and stripped of every dignity a human was allowed to hold? You shook your head and shrugged, signaling that you didn’t know.

“Her file said sixteen,” Natasha said.

You looked at them all curiously. There were three of them, the star-spangled man, the metal man, and the red-haired woman. Such a rag-tag team. What had he said they were called? The…Revengers? No, no, Avengers. That was it.

You shivered suddenly and violently. You were only wearing an old white dress with black and red stains on it. It was thin and short, the short sleeves were loose on your skinny arms from malnutrition. You were desperately hungry and if that was all they could give you, it would still be a million times better than your current situation. So, you crawled back towards Captain America and took his hand, tucking yourself under one of his arms. He was warm and he felt strong, he felt safe.

He felt like home.

They took you to what they called Avengers’ Tower, which Steve carried you into, talking to you about they do and who he was taking you to see for the cuts and whatever had been injected into you. You were drifting in and out of consciousness in his arms. You were so tired and he was so warm and calming. His voice just lulled you to sleep, but you wanted to see where you were. You were so small in his arms, it amazed him how light and tiny you were. Fragile. Like a flower. Why did HYDRA want you? Why did they do this to you? Your whole life was in a concrete prison, full of needles and hatred. Just looking at your face now in full light made him feel sick. You were still a child, but you were treated like a monster. How had that affected you? And they took away your voice, forced you to learn everything just from sight and hearing, teaching yourself basic things. First, they took his life from him along with his partner and friend Bucky, but now…they stoop to this level of degradation. HYDRA was long dead within his mind.

“Hey, Bruce, can I have you have a look at this girl?”

Bruce sighed, rubbing his temples. “I’m not that type of doctor, Steve, but whatever. You guys keep coming to me with injuries anyway. Whoa…where’d you find her?”

Steve caught him up quickly as Bruce cleaned a few of your more major injuries, though you’re still out cold on the table. Your hair had been cut short by your captors, short as in buzz cut. Steve carefully brushed his fingers across the fuzz on your head, wondering what you may have looked like in a different situation. You were probably beautiful under the dirt, scars, injuries, and whatever else they did to you.

You rolled slightly towards his hand, a small smile forming on your lips. What was he getting himself into? How was he already attached to you in such a short time?

Bruce quickly finished with you and Steve picked you back up, carrying you into the living room. You had started waking up, eyes blinking slowly before you looked up at the man carrying you. You smiled lazily, waving your fingers up at him.

“You hungry, little flower?”

You scrunched your nose up at the nickname he had given you, nodding your head as he carried you to the kitchen. Tony was making himself a sandwich along with a glass of amber liquid. Steve sat you down on a part of the large counter before grabbing the sandwich from behind Tony’s back when he turned to grab something else. You silently giggled as he gave it to you and pressed a finger to his lips to be quiet, then flushed as he realized it was unneeded. You smiled softly and quickly took a bite out of the sandwich as Tony turned back around.

“What the fu-”

“Language!” Steve quickly yelled over Tony’s voice, reaching up to cover your ears.

You squirmed and laughed your unique laugh, shaking your head playfully as you continue to eat Tony’s sandwich. He pouted playfully at you as he watched you eat his lunch, then shrugged and started making another.

“Chips, Sunflower?”

You tilted your head curiously as he held out one to you. Cautiously taking it, you nibbled at it, then ate it whole. It tasted wonderful, as did the sandwich, and you realized just how hungry you were. The men chuckled at your behavior as you finished the sandwich and a couple more chips before yawning. You were still exhausted and the building felt large and cozy and warm…

Steve caught you as you leaned to the side suddenly, eyes closing as you do. He chuckled softly and picked you up, saying a quick goodbye to Tony before taking you to his room to sleep. He’d sleep on the couch in the living room that night.

“Sleep well, Sunflower. Seems to fit you.”

You nuzzled into the soft pillows and snuggly blankets, feeling like you’re in a heaven of your own.

You finally feel safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six years later, your hair has grown out, you’ve styled it just so with Natasha’s help, and you have worked on your powers. You still haven’t gone out in the field, Steve always acted hesitant when anyone would bring it up. You preferred your room full of plants and large windows facing the east and west. Not to mention your acoustic guitar that Tony had bought you for your second “found day” at the Tower. No one else was a fan of the title Tony gave the day you were brought in, but he refused to change it.

You had seen the beginning of the team, seeing members join throughout time. Vision was always kind to you, teaching you a bit of sign language from what Tony had secretly programmed into him. Thor was fun, he let you take poptarts from his “stash” even though everyone knew where it was. He’d been away for a while, though, and you missed him. It wasn’t like him to just disappear on you all. Specifically you. Everyone was always careful you knew things. You weren’t too incredibly fond of drastic change.

You were in your room when the commotion started. It was different than the regular noise the team made and it broke your concentration on the plant placed between your knees. You sighed silently, putting it on your desk before padding downstairs, your fuzzy socks masking your footsteps. You were wearing one of your favorite outfits, a mid-thigh length, long-sleeved dress and knee-high fuzzy socks. It was so comfortable and cozy. You peeked around a corner to see Tony yelling at Thor, whose golden hair was pulled back into a low ponytail.

“Why the hell did you bring him here?!”


	2. Chapter 2

You peeked around a corner to see Tony yelling at Thor, whose golden hair was pulled back into a low ponytail.

“Why the hell did you bring him here?!”

You tilted your head curiously, looking to Natasha, who was the only one had noticed you had appeared. Tony was too busy muttering to himself while pinching the bridge of his nose and Thor looked sheepishly at the floor. He had just wanted to help.

“My apologies, but perhaps we can teach him humanity! Perhaps he can learn to care about Earth and…well, others!”

“You do remember how many people he’s killed, right?”

He played with the handle strap of his hammer. “Well…he’s…adopted.”

Natasha scoffed softly, motioning you over. You gently tucked yourself under her arm and looked at them all curiously, tilting your head again. Steve sent you a small smile, but you could see the weariness in his eyes.

“Thor brought his brother Loki here.”

You made horns with your fingers, then slid them back your head, copying the horns on Loki’s helmet. Steve nodded, chuckling. You had different gestures for every hero and quite a few villains, as well, which everyone found adorable. Well, everyone you lived with, anyway. Tony finally looked up, glanced at you, then back to Thor.

“He stays in that cell. And he needs to be watched every single hour.”

“Careful, Tony, your Steve is showing,” Natasha teased, squeezing your shoulders gently.

“Excuse me?” Both men said at the same time, then glared at each other. You giggled silently and pointed to yourself, offering to help.

“You, Lady Y/n? Are you sure? He is not the most…friendly being to meet. Especially when he is pissed. As he is now.”

You shrugged, pulling away from Nat to take Thor’s hand in yours. You tugged on his hand and pouted slightly, begging both Thor and Steve with your eyes. All of them looked to each other, hoping one of them would be able to tell you you couldn’t. No one could tell you no with that face.

“Alright, fine. Thor, could you…introduce them?” Steve sighed, making you grin widely and hug him tightly.

“Of course. Follow me, Flower of the Sun.”

You took his hand again as he lead you to where they had put Loki, which happened to be a glass cell. Or maybe it was plexiglass, you couldn’t tell. Either way, the man inside the cell was much more interesting than debating what the cell was made of.

His raven hair was long, nearly matching Thor’s length, and his suit was only green and gold, which suited his looks quite well. He was stupidly handsome to you, though his eyes were cold as he watched you and his brother walk in. You stared right back at him, hoping he’d either stop staring or say something to you. He didn’t do either, just continued glaring.

“Brother, this is Lady Y/n. This is Loki, my brother.”

“Adopted,” Loki cut in quickly, crossing his arms angrily.

You pulled a face. Did he always act this spoiled and haughty around people? You had decided that maybe his looks were one thing, but his attitude didn’t make him as attractive as you had first thought. Thor pulled away from you to go up and talk to Loki in as much of a hushed voice as he could manage. You sat on the floor cross-legged, swirling your fingers on the floor in front of you. Slowly, green lines started showing up and grew into small vines on the floor. They weren’t noticeable, but it was something you were told to practice whenever you could.

“Very good, then. Lady Y/n, I wish you the best of luck. Loki…behave.” He pointedly looked at his brother before leaving you with a small smile.

Loki scoffed as his brother left, fixing his blue eyes on you as you just sat there, playing with the small vines on the floor. He watched you for a while in silence before sighing heavily, wanting to catch your attention, which worked. You always responded to other people’s body actions and expressions before words, it came more natural to you, so you were more attuned to the quietest movements.

You looked up to him, waiting to see if he wanted to say something or if he was being dramatic. The longer you waited, the angrier he seemed to become until he growled and exploded.

“Are you going to say anything or sit there stupidly?”

You flushed embarrassedly and looked down at your feet. He wouldn’t know you were mute, he couldn’t know unless Thor had told him. You could hear him pacing the cell angrily and you remembered how it felt to be caged up. To be treated like an animal.

“I would be given the dullest creature in this blasted place. My idiot brother wouldn’t know class if it took his hammer and hit him in the face with it.”

You sighed silently, looking back up at him with distaste. If he was going to be an ass, you could be one, too.

He glared at you after mumbling to himself. “What do you want, you mewling quim?”

You tilted your head, sizing him up slightly before you smiled and shrugged, the vines wrapping themselves up your legs loosely. His eyes flicked down to the greenery curling around you, his brows raising in surprise briefly before the bored mask fell back across his features. You continued to smile sweetly at him, hoping that maybe it’d cause him to crack.

“Who are you?” He asked, finally giving into the questions in his mind.

You pull up a few vines to use to spell out your name, though you seem him a little bit upset you hadn’t said anything.

“Can’t you talk, child?”

You pouted slightly at being called a child. You were twenty-two, for God’s sake, you hadn’t ever been a child ever in your life. How dare he talk down to you? He was the one being held in a cell, he had no right.

You stuck with your plan of politeness and shook your head, tilting your head up. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of your scar, but he hid it quickly as you made an x over your lips.

“You can’t speak.”

You nodded, scooting closer to the cage. He stepped back away from you as you neared him. You remembered when the Avengers found you and you started marveling at how similar you were to this man. This man that your entire family seemed to hate. If you had done something horrible to people while you were trapped by HYDRA, would they have hated you, too?

“A mute child. Why are you even a part of these so-called ‘heroes’ if you cannot even communicate on such a basic level.”

‘I know how to sign,’ your hands moved quickly in front of you, though he had no idea what you were doing.

“You are useless, aren’t you?”

You sighed, flicking your wrist to send your vines through the floor to wrap around his ankles. He looked down briefly before glaring at you, only for you to pull his feet out from under him and hold him upside down. You smiled sweetly as he protested, cussing you out in ancient Norse. Tony had chosen that time to walk in to tell you you could get something to eat, but he stopped to laugh at the God of Mischief.

“Meet your match, Reindeer Games?”

He glared between you both. “I hate all of your with every fiber of my being.”

“Alright, Sunflower, you can go get some lunch, alright?”

You nodded, pressing your fingers to your chin and then extend it towards Tony, almost like blowing a kiss. It was the sign for “Thank you”. You dropped Loki back to the floor before running out of the room, giggling to yourself. Natasha was in the kitchen when you walked in and raided the fridge for leftovers. Deciding on cold pizza that you all had had the night before, you grabbed a bottle of soda and sat yourself up on the counter.

“Hey, babe, how’s sitting with the resident criminal?”

You shrugged, shoving the smallest piece in your mouth. You waved your hand in front of your mouth like you were yawning before grinning.

Nat chuckled softly, ruffling your hair. “You’re a dork.”

You gave her a look that said ‘I know’ before grabbing your food and going to the library. You might as well grab some books to read while you were sitting with Loki. It should make it more bearable, anyway.

You grabbed about three of your favorites before heading back to the cell room with your pizza and soda. Tony was checking the security of the cell as you walked in and Loki was sulking in the corner, glaring at him. You waved and sat back where you were before, taking another bite of pizza.

“I suppose I do not get to eat,” Loki grumbled.

“You’re an immortal god, do you even need food?” Tony asked as he waved to you as he left.

You scooted against the glass again, opening the small window to slide a book into the cell and two pieces of pizza. He glared at you, but you saw curiosity in his eyes as well. You smiled brightly at him before resting your back on the glass and opening your own book and flicking through a few pages. You heard him moving behind you, the rustle of pages, and a soft hum as you could only guess he started eating the pizza. You smiled to yourself as you read, feeling like if you treated him like you were treated, maybe he’d be nicer to you, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Armed with your laptop and four books, you walked noiselessly into Loki’s cell room. It’d been about a week since you had started treating him like you were treated there, and you had honestly seen great improvements with him. He had stopped calling you useless and child, which you were glad about, though he hadn’t acted well when the others were around. He enjoyed whenever you brought him new books, you had noticed, so you made sure to always have a few on hand when you went to see him.

“And what do you have for us today, Petal?” Loki asked with a small smile as you walked in.

That was another thing. He had taken to calling you Petal now whenever you were alone. The way he said it made you wonder how he meant it. His voice often dropped to an almost growl around you, you found it odd how it would suddenly change. You shook it off as his boredom made him want to tease you. After all, you were the only one who wanted to be around him on purpose. You just rolled your eyes at him and slid the first Percy Jackson book through to him before pulling a chocolate bar out of your back pocket.

“What is this? Midgardian rumors of other gods?”

You nodded, holding up your book. It was the first of the Magnus Chase series. Loki sighed heavily, shaking his head.

“You mortals are a strange lot.”

You smiled and shrugged, passing him a chunk of chocolate. He gingerly picked it up and looked it over before eating it, then looked at you as you sat against the glass to start reading. You had only flipped two pages before he tapped the glass.

“Could…you hand me another piece?”

This was the first time he had asked you for anything and politely to boot. You smiled and nodded, breaking off a bigger piece of chocolate for him. He nodded as he took it and you couldn’t help but giggle to yourself. If the Avengers could see him now.

“Why are you nice to me?”

The question took you by surprise. You weren’t sure how to explain it to him without telling him your entire past.

So, you shrugged and turned to look at him, tapping on the glass, then pointed out where you were.

“You’re doing this…so I can get out of this prison.”

You nodded and passed him the rest of the chocolate bar. It was simple what you wanted; you wanted a friend. You had the Avengers, but they were less friends and more family. Nat was like your sister, Tony and Steve were your dads, Clint, Thor, and Rhodey were your brothers, and Bruce was the uncle that tried to keep everyone in line. And failed. Loki, however, fit no other category other than a friend. No one liked to read like you did or, if they did, it wasn’t the types of books you were into. He was different. He read every book of yours you brought him and then he’d tell you what he thought of it. It was entertained you when he ranted about how odd Midguardians were with their stories.

“Petal, why do you waste your time with me? You must know I am not good for you.”

You shrugged, turning your page. You really didn’t care if he was good FOR your or not. You wanted to be good for him. To show him that he didn’t need to be evil to be important.

You smiled at him gently before pressing your hand to the glass. You wanted to help him. Wanted to make him feel like he was needed and wanted around by someone.

You wanted him to feel at home.

And as he pressed his hand back on the glass across from yours, you knew that was exactly what you were going to do.


	3. Chapter 3

You had made yourself a makeshift bed out of vines and leaves to lay on the floor next to the cell. Loki had taken to reading aloud to you, which often lulled you to sleep, much to his amusement. He’d usually mark your place in the book, then start reading another for his own while you slept. Sometimes he’d find himself watching you. He didn’t mean to be creepy, but he found you very interesting. Your hair looked so soft and beautiful, your expression was soft and relaxed as you slept, which always caused him to pause. You were so soft and gentle and quiet and small. How could you be so nice to him without knowing anything about him? If you knew what he’d done…

You rolled over, blearily blinking your eyes open to catch him watching you. You waved at him, smiling softly, chuckling to yourself as he quickly looked back to the book in his hands. Sitting up, you stretched your arms out above your head and yawned, then relaxed as you looked over to him. You noticed he was forcing himself to keep reading and turning pages, though you weren’t entirely sure he was seeing the words.

“Sunflower, Steve wants you,” Clint’s voice rang through the room from the comms. “Don’t wait for a change of guard, you can just go.”

You nodded and patted the glass before getting up, the vines vanishing as you did. Loki looked up to see you leave the room and sighed to himself. What was wrong with him?

You quietly walked towards the room you heard voices coming from, though you paused in the doorway to see if you were needed now.

“He can’t stay there forever,” you heard Tony say, then the sound of a glass clinking down.

“He won’t. Thor already has made arrangements.”

Your heart stopped for a minute, your hand grabbing the door frame to steady yourself. They were going to take Loki away? But he hadn’t even tried to escape and he hadn’t done anything! He was your only friend…

“Yes, I have, though the thanks should go to Natasha, for the…evidence,” you heard a smile in Thor’s voice as he spoke and wondered what could be so funny to him when this was about his own brother, “that she was able to gather.”

“Hey, that was technically my evidence,” Tony butted in. “But whatever, who’s counting?”

“You are, apparently.”

“So, it’s decided. Whenever you find time, Thor.”

You slammed your hand against the wall and ran to your room, slamming the door. How could they do this? They were heroes, yet they were taking your only friend without even knowing how he’d changed. That wasn’t justice. None of this was justice.

“Are…we just gonna ignore that?” Tony asked after everyone had gone dead silent.

“What do you think she heard?”

Clint looked up from his arrow. “I’d say about…’he can’t stay forever’. None of you guys saw her?”

Steve sighed, an almost growl, as he rubbed his head. “She hates us.”

“But we didn’t do anything to make her hate us. It’s a thing she’ll grow out of. Probably like tomorrow.” Tony took another swig of his alcohol.

“Sometimes I hate that you’re always calm about things,” Steve muttered.

You had locked yourself in your room and curled up on your bed with a pillow held tightly to your body. Loki would be leaving, Thor was taking him away. Everyone acted like it wasn’t affecting anything. You spent so much time with him, they just dismissed him without giving him a chance. You couldn’t even say your part on his behalf.

You brushed your hand against your cheek to feel the warm tears running down your face. You were crying. When had you last cried? You hadn’t cried since you had gotten there, six years ago at least. You hadn’t had any reason to cry until now.

You sat up in your bed and looked at your fingers. It felt so foreign to you to show sadness, you were usually so happy and serene. You shook your head, thinking maybe that if you focused yourself on something you wouldn’t feel so bad. You sat by your window where the sun was streaming in from and pulled some of your pots around you to grow some flowers. Making flower crowns out of boredom usually kept you busy for a while. And since you had asked Tony’s security to not let anyone into your room, you’d be left alone.

You knew every flower had a meaning, so you always made sure to keep that in mind when you made a crown. You wanted to make a crown that reminded you of Loki, so you thought about what flowers could be green and yellow. You decided on green roses and yellow roses as well. It was simple. Green stood for harmony and the yellow stood for warmth, friendship, and caring. It seemed to fit what you felt.

You had just started twining them together when there was a knock on your door. You ignored it, your fingers moving quickly and nimbly around the vines. You had just finished it when your door was knocked on again. You sighed, putting the crown under your bed before going to look to see who was out there. Steve was patiently standing outside the door, but you simply shook your head and laid on your bed. You didn’t feel like leaving your room yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, you had gathered two books and another chocolate bar. Loki was leaving, so you wanted to give him his favorite Midguardian treat you had discovered before he did. You had purposefully avoided all the Avengers as you walked through the building, carefully scanning your hand to open the door to the cell room. You paused to resituate the things in your arms before you looked up to greet Loki, though what met you was an empty room.

They already had moved him. You had spent the one day you had left with him locked in your room. How could you do that?

You dropped everything to the floor and rushed back to the door, bouncing on your feet as you waited for it to open impatiently. Could you get through it if it was only open a little bit? You could try.

Though, instead of being able to run out the door, you crashed into the body of someone. He huffed as you knocked the both of you into the wall, his hands closing around your upper arms to hold you steady. You opened your eyes slowly to see dark green leather, gold lining, then your head jerked up to meet blue eyes.

“In a rush, Petal? You really should be more careful.”

You weren’t sure whether to cry or smile, so you settled for simply hugging him tightly. Your head only came up to his chest, he was so tall compared to you. But he was there, that was enough for you. You felt his hand run through your hair gently and felt him chuckle softly.

“If this is how you greet everyone you run into, I wish I had left that cell sooner.”

“If you had left it,” you heard Steve say somewhere behind you and to the side, “you probably wouldn’t be standing there right now.”

“Eh, fair enough.”

You pulled away to look at Captain America, your hands flying as you signed ‘I thought he was going away’.

“Well, this is why eavesdropping is bad.” He smiled and ruffled your hair gently. “Nat showed us security cam footage of you both. So, it was either he brainwashed you, or Thor was right. Since we locked away his scepter, that left the latter choice.”

“My brother, right? Maybe you Midguardians do have magic.”

You smiled in utter disbelief. You had been wrong. They weren’t sending Loki away, they let him go. He wasn’t a prisoner anymore. Because…of you?

Steve patted your shoulder gently. “You did great, kid.”

You giggled to yourself as you felt the familiar feeling of flowers starting to sprout in your hair. It always happened when you experienced strong emotions, the flowers depending on your mood. You pulled one out from behind your ear and smiled at the pink rosebud. Joy.

“That’s new,” you heard Loki mutter.

You turned to look at him, seeing he had gathered the things you had dropped in the empty room and also seeing he had started on the chocolate bar. You shook your head at him, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from Steve to show him around.

Steve smiled softly, crossing his arms over his chest as Natasha walked up to him.

“You’re oddly okay with her hanging out with him without a glass barrier.”

“If he was gonna do something to her, he would’ve already. Besides…she’s old enough to handle herself. What is she now, eighteen?”

“Steve, she’s twenty-two. You really aren’t okay with letting her go, are you?”

He sighed quietly, looking down at his feet. “She’s always gonna be that girl we rescued to me. But I’m not gonna be clingy. Why do you think I allowed him to come out?”

She nodded, patting his arm. “Well, you made her really happy. Good job.”

“We’ll see if it ends good.”


	4. Chapter 4

You had been basically dragging Loki around the Tower to show him around, leaving the huge library for last. You knew that he’d love to spend time more there than anywhere else, so you saved it until the end. He had humored you while you had pulled him around, though when you had shown him the library, he was silent in amazement.

Tony was always extravagant in everything he did, the library was no different. It was huge, thousands of books lined the shelves that were nearly wall to wall and floor to ceiling. There were bean bag chairs and there was a table with some chairs that have extra padding. Like a school study table but way better. He was still carrying your laptop and two books, the chocolate bar was long gone shared between you two, the empty wrapper was stuck in the back pocket of your jeans.

“This was here the entire time? Why was I never told? I would have asked to stay here happily.”

You shook your head at him, smiling as you pulled him inside. You took your stuff from him and put the computer by your feet as you plopped yourself down in the fluffiest bean bag before turning to watch Loki. He was standing awkwardly, not absolutely certain what to do with himself. You remembered how that felt, finally being able to be free, but having no idea what you actually do once you are. You smiled up at him and gestured to the room, then made a shooing motion.

“You’re sure I’m allowed to?”

You stood up, playfully going to the door to look out sneakily, then quickly shut the door, putting your finger to your lips with a wink.

“You are a very strange girl,” he muttered, shaking his head as he went off to search for an interesting book.

You smiled to yourself, grabbing your laptop to open up Word while he wasn’t looking. You didn’t do this often, you preferred learning sign language or using gestures. However, there were some points that you just didn’t have the movement to say what you were thinking and it frustrated you. You saw no point in learning how to mouth words, there wasn’t one if someone wasn’t paying close attention. Besides, they’d have to stare at your mouth a lot and that’d just be weird.

Loki had cautiously sunk into the seat beside you, frowning slightly as he noticed how squishy it was. You giggled silently as you watched him look confused at the Midgardian device that seemed to want to swallow him.

“How are you not sinking as much?”

Your fingers quickly typed, “I’m not as heavy.”

“Are you insinuating that I am fat?”

The look of disbelief and mock horror on his face nearly made you drop your laptop out of your lap, you started laughing so hard. You quickly shook your head, covering your mouth as your body shook from the force of your laughs. He smirked in amusement before opening the book and settling back to read. You slowly settled down, setting your computer down to pick up your own book.

He hadn’t been able to figure you out yet. Most Midguardians were easy to read to him, they were simple beings. You were easy to read for a different reason; you had to be. Without words, your expressions and body movements gave away a lot of how you felt, but it didn’t give away what was in your head. No one as happy as you were was always happy. Something had happened to you to cause you to look at things the way you did. But what? He didn’t want to ask you, he didn’t want it to change you. You were really the only one who was nice to him here. Clint still sent him side glares whenever he had the chance to, though he supposed he deserved that. That only made him wonder…what did the others think of him?

And why did they trust you alone with him? Were you that strong on your own? Granted, he hadn’t seen exactly what you were capable of, you hadn’t done anything but hang him upside down and grow flowers in your hair, that he knew of. You hadn’t even shown him your room, maybe you were some crazy plant breeder. He chuckled to himself as he thought about that. Right, because that was dangerous.

He, on the other hand, knew how dangerous he was and he was still confused as to why you hung around him. Didn’t you know what he’d done on this planet? On his own planet, as well. He had killed people, tricked the only people he had known as family, then lied so many times. Yet…you still looked at him the way you looked at Steve. No, you looked at him with more kindness in your eyes than when you looked at Steve. And why? What had he done to grant him that?

You hadn’t looked up from your book yet, though you had noticed he hadn’t turned any pages yet, which was odd for him. You decided to snap him out of whatever he was thinking about by snapping your book shut suddenly, making him jump slightly. He looked up at you, eyes blown wide in surprise, making you chuckle to yourself. Pulling your computer up, you typed quickly to voice your thoughts.

‘What are you thinking?’

Loki sighed quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just…about how glad I am to be out of there. I can never thank you enough, Petal.”

You shrugged, smiling softly to yourself. You didn’t need thanks. You were just glad your only friend was still here and that you could be the reason he was allowed out of his cage.

“Would you like to see a trick?” He asked, looking up at you.

You nodded, setting your book down to give him your full attention. He held up one of his hands as green light swirled around his fingers and palm before it spread to your arm. You gasped and nearly fell out of your chair as it moved to you, holding up your arm as the glow twisted its way up your arm. It slowly turned solid and scaly, a small head resting near your elbow as small eyes peered up at you. His magic had created a snake on your arm.

The snake was a small, green snake just staring at you, its tongue flicking out every now and then. You had settled down from your surprised to simply stare back at the snake. You had never had any problems with animals, you had always loved them. Plants weren’t the only thing you could connect with. Anything in nature was connected to your spirit somehow, you didn’t entirely know how the experiments affected you really, but you had always been able to get close to even the most dangerous animals.

“What do you think?”

You smiled, pointed to your eye, then made a small heart, then pointed to the snake in an “I love it” type gesture. He smiled softly, looking down at his hands as you kissed the snake’s head gently. The snake was actually pretty adorable. Was this the reason people were scared of him? Because he was magic?

“You, um…you can keep him, if you’d like,” he muttered to you, not looking up at you yet.

You nodded excitedly, the snake sliding up to rest on your shoulder. You reached over and gently squeezed his hand as thanks before getting up to put the snake in your room for safe keeping. He seemed to enjoy the endless tangle of vines and plants that your room was, quickly finding his way to the thickest part of the vines. You smiled softly before grabbing the flower crown you had made for Loki, plucking a small blue rosebud to place at the front to serve as the crowning jewel. You quickly ran back to the library, where Loki was still sitting, looking at the door. He didn’t know if you were going to come back when you left, but he was glad you did, even though he had no idea what was in your hands.

You walked silently over and gently rested the flower crown on his hair, which seemed to be less spiky from when you first saw him for the first time and more curled. Your fingers barely brushed through it as you adjusted the crown and you were amazed at how soft it was. Had he showered after he was let free? Or was it more magic?

“Thank you, Petal, but…what is it?”

You made your fingers make a blossoming gesture, then made a crown gesture by making a circle with your hands and putting them on your head.

“A…flower…crown.”

You nodded.

“Thank you. It is quite lovely.”

You grinned before checking the time. It was nearly dinner time, so you grabbed his wrist and tugged him out of the library to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, you’re just…cool with her spending time with him, alone, out of his cell?” Tony asked Steve as he walked into the lab. He had just come from training with Nat, so he wasn’t in his suit anymore.

“You saw the footage, I didn’t have a reason to not trust them together. Yet.”

Tony nodded slowly, swirling his glass slightly. “I know she’s like your daughter, that’s why I’m amazed you even let her watch him.”

“After what she’s been through, he’s barely anything. She can handle herself.”

“Somehow, I don’t think you mean that.” He took a sip before going back to his computer. “Although, I don’t think you’d be too bad to check security cams when they’re alone.”

“I’m not going to spy on Y/n, Tony, no matter what you say. I trust her, that’s all there is to it.”

“Well, I put the passcode to the cams on a sticky note next to the computer. Surely you can figure that out after that, right, Capsicle?”

Steve glared at Tony before he walked out of the lab to take a shower. Tony was such a…a…he couldn’t even think of a good enough word to describe him. He couldn’t believe he didn’t trust you to handle yourself. If Loki did try to do anything, you’d have him knocked on his ass and wrapped up in vines before he could say “boo”. He smiled just thinking about it. He raised you well. Well, for six years he did, anyway.

Meanwhile, you were showing Loki how dinner was made on earth, well, the dinner you made on your own anyway. It was basically you showing him how to make a sandwich and that bottled water was actually better than the tap water. You just waved your hand when he tried to argue about what the difference could possibly be. He thought he had Midgard figured out, but then you showed him something new, which confused him all over again. It would have driven him crazy if it wasn’t for you smiling at him every time he seemed upset. You radiated calmness and positive energy, you immediately put him in a better mood with just a look. You were the biggest mystery about Midgard to him, one he desperately wanted to understand, but he wasn’t sure if he should. What if you broke, like a piece of glass or ice?

He didn’t want to think about ice.

You nudged his arm with your elbow as you picked up your plate, jerking your head towards the couch as an invitation to come sit and eat with you. He sat in the corner of the couch as you sat closer to the coffee table, not wanting to push his luck being around you. Who knew which of the Avengers were around, watching you both…like a hawk…

He shuddered at that thought, which you noticed and sent him a concerned look. He just smiled softly and shook his head, taking a bite of his sandwich to keep you from worrying.

You were certainly a special girl.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Do pills count as a drug reference if you don’t abuse them??? This is mostly leading up to more…DRAMATIC stuff

You had decided to name your snake Hissy, since that was an easy name for you to describe. He hadn’t left your room yet, you didn’t want him to end up getting Loki in trouble. You weren’t sure if he was allowed to use his magic in the Tower yet, so he was hidden within your crazy messy viney room you somehow were able to live in. Your bed was usually covered in leaves and flower petals from the plants around your room. It made your room like a dream or something from an online aesthetic. You were just lucky no one was allergic to your plants.

Thor had taken Loki to show him his own room, so you had taken to your own room for a little bit, though you did feel suddenly left out by the brothers. You hadn’t seen Thor happier now that his brother was good enough to be free by Tony and Steve’s standards, so you thought you’d let them have a bit of time to themselves. It was nice to see Loki finally being accepted as someone other than the monster and villain they all perceived him to be. That made you very happy.

You knew he’d eventually want to know why you couldn’t speak, how you were able to manipulate nature around you, but you weren’t sure if you could or if you were ready to share it. The Avengers had your file, you never had to tell them anything about you. They probably knew things about you that you didn’t even know.

Hissy wound his way around your calf as you sat on your bed, his head resting daintily on your knee. It was now when you started noticing things about him. His eyes were black with flecks of green in them, his scales had speckles of gold over the green, and his belly was a pale yellow color. He was honestly very cute, you hadn’t known that a snake could be so cute and such a nice companion. It was like Loki, in a way.

Picking up your journal, you flip to a blank page, past your lists of flowers and what you knew they meant, to a half-sketch of the Avengers you had started before Loki had come into your life. You had Steve and Tony finished, you still had to draw Nat’s face in, and start working on the figures of the rest of the team. You had a small space in front of Steve where you were going to put yourself in, though now you were beginning to rethink where you were going to be.

You skipped the drawing for now, turning to a blank page, and started sketching Hissy. He seemed to still as you looked him over to get him right, adding his little tongue flicking out. You smiled to yourself as you thought about Loki, though it faded as you remembered the first time you heard of him.

~~~~~~~(Cue Flashback that I'd put in italics if I knew how to)

“Tony, all I am asking is you give him a chance,” Thor had said, following Tony around like a child.

“If this is about you bringing your brother here, forget it. None of us have forgotten what he’s done to this world.”

“Or to us,” Clint had butted in with his two cents.

“He is not evil, I promise you.”

Tony had turned on the Asguardian god. “What is he then? Because, to us, he’s evil.”

You watched Thor search for the right words in his head, finally settling on, “He’s sick.”

Tony turned on him quicker than you had ever seen him turn on anyone, not even Steve. Well, at that point you hadn’t. “No, listen to me. Sick implies that once upon a time, he was healthy, that he can get better. He’s a monster-always has been, always will be based on what we’ve seen and heard-and nothing can change that. Especially not your attempts on ‘humanizing’ him here with false hopes. You can cut off his horns, but that doesn’t make the devil less dark.”

~~~~~~~~~~

You shook your head, wanting to shake that memory away. You hated that that was your first impression of him now that you knew he could be good. You had proved Tony Stark wrong. That made you happier. Maybe that was why Thor had also been happier, that you had proved that he was right about Loki. That his brother wasn’t truly evil.

Just…misunderstood.

“Hey, Sunflower,” Steve said, knocking against the side of your open door. “Mind if I come in?” 

You shook your head, patting the bed across from you as you move your body and Hissy so he could sit. He carefully walked past your vines and flowers and sat across from you, searching for what to say.

“Okay, so…I know that you and Loki have been spending time together and that’s perfectly fine,” he quickly added as he saw you sigh and look put out. “I just want you to know that you should be careful. He’s called the God of Lies for a reason, but I don’t doubt that you’ve changed him. He’s…actually civil to us now, which is crazy because it wasn’t long ago when he was trying to kill or enslave us. What I’m trying to say is…” he put his hand on your head to ruffle your hair. “I’m proud of you, Y/n. You’re amazing.”

You cheeks flared pink as you smiled widely, lunging forward to hug him tightly. He had said he was proud of you before, but you were always happy to hear it. You always worked so hard to fit in, to prove that you did belong and that you weren’t a mistake. That they didn’t waste their time with you.

He chuckled as his hands rested between your shoulder blades and behind your head carefully, knowing how sensitive you were. “Alright, well…I’m gonna leave you be now, I know you need to relax from things. Oh, but don’t forget to take the medicine Bruce gave you.”

You nodded slightly, looking to your bedside table where there were several pill bottles were. All but three were filled with dirt and small flowers were sprouting from them. One was to help you sleep at night, one was an anxiety depressor, and the last one was one Bruce had made. It suppressed your powers when you had an anxiety attack and your powers would go crazy. Sometimes your powers also just went haywire whenever your negative emotions got too out of control or if it decided to try to control you. They didn’t know entirely about what the experiments had done to you, but every now and then you’d have a problem. It scared them the first time it happened, but Bruce had been quick to act. He hadn’t always liked his mutation, he’d been trying to keep it from showing up as much, so he already had a prototype of the pills you now had that he gave you. Luckily, it worked.

Steve kissed your head gently before walking out of your room. Hissy peered up at you, his tongue flicking out as he smelled/tasted the air. You patted his head with your finger before reaching for your pills and water glass.

Loki waved his hand, cutting off his connection to see through Hissy’s eyes. He didn’t want to stoop to this level of lies and spy on you, but no one would tell him anything about you. He felt horrible, invading your privacy like that, but he never looked in on you when you were changing. He wasn’t willing to ruin your trust in him that easily. 

Why did you need pills? Was something wrong with you that you needed pills to control your actions or feelings? That couldn’t feel good. He knew you couldn’t tell him anything, you weren’t able to, and there was no way he would be able to get a hold of your file to know himself. None of the Avengers trusted him enough to tell him your secrets either, not even Thor. They loved you too much to risk you with him. There was something wrong that was killing him because he didn’t know. He knew about the Avengers and their pasts, but not you. He didn’t want to dive into your head to access memories, he didn’t want to hurt you.

You were too sweet, too kind, to not have something terrible in your past. He knew that much. Pills were another hint. Obviously, you were either sick or had to suppress something. He didn’t really understand your plant powers either. That could be what the pills were for.

He wouldn’t ask you. He couldn’t. That’d be prying. Although, what he was just doing was also considered prying, though it didn’t dredge up awful memories for you. That’s what he wanted to avoid. If he could just gather enough information to make an assumption about you, even a guess would help ease his mind just a little about you. What about you was driving him crazy? Was it the fact that you happened to be the first person on this miserable world that showed him any kindness like he was a person? Or was it possibly the fact that you couldn’t talk but were so expressive that it felt like you’d start talking at any moment?

There were so many questions flying through his head about you, but there were no answers he could find.

How could one small Midgardian girl drive him, a god, so infernally crazy?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: More pills, some angst, PTSD??? Idk, um…kinda a panic attack and trauma and stuff. Some Dad Steve and Dad Tony, more to be explained next chapter

You grunted silently as your back hit the mat under you, Natasha standing in front of you in a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra. You had wanted to learn hand-to-hand combat to help protect yourself, but you weren’t the best at it. You kept getting knocked on your rear whenever you went to make a move.

“Let’s take a break,” she suggested as she watched you get up, fixing your t-shirt to keep it from riding up when you fell.

You nodded slowly, grabbing your water bottle from the corner of the room. The other Avengers were training on an obstacle course Tony had made that you weren’t ready for and Loki was, you could only assume, was in the library. Could he fight? You had never seen him fighting anyone, did he only use his magic or could he actually fight?

“Lady Y/n!” Thor surprised you by yelling behind you and his large hands grabbing your shoulders gently. You jumped slightly before giggling and turning to look at him, seeing he had dragged Loki with him.

You were surprised that they were both in normal clothes. Thor was in a purple shirt and jeans, his hammer hooked on his belt. Loki was in black sweats and a dark green sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He actually looked really good.

Loki’s eyes dropped down quickly, taking in your clothes quickly. A grey Under Armor shirt that dispelled sweat when you worked out, sky blue men’s basketball shorts, and black tights under them made up your workout gear, your hair pinned back to keep any strands out of your face. More scars were visible on your forearms since you had a t-shirt on and he noticed there were even some leading down from your collar bones. You weren’t that old, how could you have been through so much torture already?

You smiled sweetly at him when you caught him looking at you, wiping your skin off quickly with your towel before turning back to Nat. She smirked slightly, nodding as you got back to your places. She always allowed you to make the first move, so when she rushed you first, you were surprised. You dropped instantly, dodging her hand as it reached out to grab you. You never used powers when you sparred, there wasn’t any point to it with her. If you were against Steve, who had super strength, then you might be tempted to use your powers then.

You bounced back up behind her, your own punch being blocked by her hand. She smirked again, her leg moving to knock yours out from under you. However, before she could get much momentum, you twisted your wrist to also twist her arm slightly, your other hand coming up to hit the side of her ribs, knocking the wind out of her. She stumbled back slightly and you spun your leg out to knock hers out from under her.

“Wow, Y/n,” she said after she found her breath again. “You are definitely learning.”

You smiled brightly as the rest of the Avengers filed in, Clint helping Nat up with a smile. “So, the student has surpassed the teacher?”

“Not yet.”

“That was glorious, Lady Y/n! You will be fighting at our sides in no time!” Thor exclaimed, making Loki roll his eyes.

Steve chuckled nervously, not loving the idea of you going out into danger yet. “We’ll see, Thor, but she did do well.” He ruffled your hair affectionately.

You giggled to yourself as the Avengers walked around the training room to start their own session. You had just picked up your water again when Loki walked up to you with a smile.

“You did very well, perhaps you can teach me to fight sometime?”

He had just placed his hand on one of your shoulder blades when you turned to reply, but the action only made you drop your water to the ground and jerk away from him quickly, feeling your whole body shake as your eyes were blown wide in fear.

“Y/n?!” Steve’s voice was foggy as you felt like you weren’t in control of your body, though everyone else saw your behavior change.

Green had started coursing through your veins as you fought your own consciousness to keep from slipping back into a past nightmare. Steve’s hands came down to gently, but firmly, grasp your upper arms as small vines started climbing up your feet and ankles. Loki had been pushed away by Thor, who was both concerned and ready to snap on his brother if you weren’t okay.

“Y/n, sweetie, I need you to breathe, okay?” Steve said as Bruce rushed to his lab to grab meds just in case you couldn’t snap out of it.

Your breathing was shallow as you tried to even it out, Steve felt the vines start climbing his legs, the small thorns in them digging into his skin. You didn’t want this, what you wanted was to scream, to run, but you couldn’t. You were mute and frozen. There wasn’t an escape from this.

“Look at me, Sunflower. Breathe, please.” He smiled at you as your eyes locked, your eyes a mix of different colors as your powers swirled.

“Steve, try singing to her,” Nat called out, wanting to help but knowing it was bad if she got too close it would only escalate how scared you were. Scared of hurting them.

“W-what would I sing?”

“Whatever you can think of!”

Steve racked his brain. He honestly hadn’t gotten into any music that was popular now, the only thing he could think of was a lullaby from before he was frozen. Would that calm you down?

“You are my sunshine,” his voice started out soft so you could only hear him, your eyes focusing on him only.

“My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray.”

Your breathing started evening out, your mouth slowly copying the words he was making to anchor you to something stable.

“You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you.”

The vines slowly disappeared as he continued on soothingly, wrapping his arms around you gently, chin on top of your head.

“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

You quietly cried against his shirt, clinging to him tightly. Bruce had just gotten back into the room to see the green in your veins slowly fade.

Everyone jumped when Thor slammed Loki against the wall. “What did you do to her?!”

“I-I didn’t mean to do anything to her! I merely touched her back and-”

“You shouldn’t be touching her at all!” Tony yelled at him, causing you to flinch into Steve. “You know, we were all for giving you a chance after what she showed us, but now you’ve gone and done it, Reindeer Games!”

Just as he was about to lunge at Loki, you tore away from Steve and stood between him and the God of Mischief, catching everyone off-guard. Even Thor stepped back from Loki, who was staring in both panic and surprise. Maybe even fear. Your hands shook as you held them in front of you to keep Tony back. He still looked pissed at Loki but stormed out of the room instead. You looked down as you lowered your hands, which still were shaking, before looking over at Steve, your breathing becoming heavy again as you saw some blood dripping down his legs from the thorns. You panicked again, rushing out to go to your room and lock yourself inside. If you locked yourself away, there was no possible way of you hurting anyone else other than yourself.

“W-what was wrong with touching her back?” Loki asked cautiously, looking around at everyone.

Bruce looked to Steve for permission, which only rewarded him with a wave of his hand as he went to go for a run to clear his head. “Follow me, Loki.”

“A-anyone else would be preferable.”

“If you wanna know about her, you’ll follow me,” Bruce said.

Everyone was serious when it came to you. What just happened was an obvious reason as to why they were so protective of you.

“Fine. Lead the way, Dr. Banner.”

You sniffled as you looked out your window, the bright light from the sun contrasting your mood starkly. Hissy had hid from you, you had no idea where he was. What you did know is that you had no idea why you were like that. Why did you have to be so sensitive, you didn’t ask for any of this. Why did this happen to you?

“You didn’t take your pills,” Steve’s voice said from outside your door. “Let me in, Sunflower.”

You hesitantly do as you’re told, stepping back as he walked in. He made a beeline for your nightstand and looked through your bottles. None of the ones you were supposed to take were empty, but a look into your trash can showed him what he needed to know. In wadded up tissues were three days worth of pills, which weren’t hidden well since the tissues had come undone. He sighed softly, looking at you somewhat sadly.

“Why?”

You hugged your arms tightly. You thought you could do it without being controlled by medicine, you didn’t want those things to become your life. You could do it, you knew you could, but…you weren’t strong enough yet.

‘I’m sorry.’ You signed quickly, feeling more tears slipping down your cheeks.

He sighed quietly, gathering you carefully into his arms. “Oh, sweetheart…I’m not upset with you. I love you too much. It’ll be okay, Sunflower. Just trust me.”

You nodded, hugging him tightly. Everything would work out as long as you had your family.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Residue of anxiety attacks, maybe body horror?? and such some fluff and beginnings of a crush ;-)

“Why hasn’t she seen this yet?” Loki asked Bruce after he had read your file.

“Do you have any idea what that’d do to her? She’s already hyper-aware of how badly she could hurt people if she doesn’t keep her powers under control. Knowing who did this to her would only hurt her more.”

He nodded slowly, closing the file he was handed just minutes ago. Whenever your negative emotions spiked, you went into a different mindset, one of panic and fear of yourself. If you were alone when that happened, your powers spiraled out of control, causing vines to go everywhere and appear from your body. Your back was the most common place for them to break out of your skin. You had six scars on your back where the vines had emerged, one on each shoulder blade, two about mid-back, then the last two were said to be above the curve of your rear. There weren’t any pictures, so he had to trust what Bruce had written down. He just shook his head. You were still so young to have this sort of torment every second.

“The first time she did it,” Bruce said softly, leaning against a table, “was about three days after she got here. She must’ve had a horrible nightmare because she was crying so hard when we saw her. Her skin was almost the same color as mine when I Hulk out and the vines were…you ever seen an octopus? Or, better yet, a Disney character called Ursula? The vines were like her tentacles. Well, except green with thorns.”

“Did anyone get hurt?”

Bruce hesitated. “I-it was mostly her. When the vines reversed, her back was bleeding pretty badly. We thought we were going to lose her, but…apparently, her mutation also has this safety switch. Instead of a normal scab, what grew over the wounds looked more like bark. It disappeared and left scar tissue, but still.”

Loki couldn’t believe any of this. You seemed incredibly gentle and kind, but you were terrified of yourself and your abilities. He understood you were scared of people getting hurt, but now that he knew a part of what you had gone through, what hell you experienced since you were born…

He was angry.

He was angry at something he didn’t even have a stake in.

Why?

“Thank you for your time, Dr. Banner.” He dropped the file on the table and left the room quickly, heading directly to your room. He’d seen you come and go from a room, so he assumed it was your bedroom.

You were sitting in front of your window again. You had taken your pills before Steve had left you alone and you felt the familiar buzz as they took effect. You didn’t get high off them, but you knew the feeling of them working well enough by now to know the feeling by heart. The sun was filtering in through your window softly since it was nearing sundown now and you were feeling exhausted. You always felt drained after an episode like that, though it could’ve been a lot worse if Steve hadn’t thought of a song. Music was your outlet, after all.

Just as you were about to get up, you heard a soft chuckle from your door.

“My, Petal, but the light does compliment you very well.”

You had turned quickly to face him, eyes widening. He had seen you in the training room. Why wasn’t he scared of you? How did no one understand that you were dangerous, something to be feared and hurt? A freak of nature made for people to use.

“You look paler than I do,” he said offhandedly, trying to keep you calm with small jokes. However, when he saw that wasn’t working and that you were trying to keep yourself in a corner, he stepped closer. “It’s okay, Petal.”

You shook your head violently, holding your hands up in front of you to keep him away. You weren’t risking hurting him. You wouldn’t hurt him.

He sighed quietly, his large hands gently clasping around your wrists, making you wince. Not out of pain, but still fear. His hands were cool to your skin, which you didn’t know why. The Tower was usually warm enough to keep hands from being cool, everyone elses’ hands were warm. Why was he different?

“You aren’t going to hurt me. I know you won’t.” His voice was soft. He hadn’t moved closer yet, but he hadn’t let go of your wrists. “May I tell you something? It might help you.”

You raised your head slightly to meet his eyes and nodded. He gently guided you to sit on your bed, which you did gladly. You were exhausted, after all.

“I am not originally from Asgard. You know of the Nine Realms, yes?” When you nodded, he continued. “I am from the world of Frost-Giants, Jotunheim, and I am also a Frost-Giant. I know it seems odd, since I am neither very giant nor do I look like any of them. I was taken as a baby to Asgard and adopted by Odin. As you can probably guess, I…never fit in. I never felt like I was loved as much as Thor.”

You nodded, moving your hands out of his grip to gently place one on top of his hand as comfort. He smiled softly at you, turning his hand so yours fell on his.

“I am glad Thor did bring me here and didn’t give up on me. I wouldn’t have met such a wonderful girl who genuinely wants to be my friend.”

You flushed pink, smiling at him. He was really sweet to you when no one else was around and it still baffled you. He was referred to as a dangerous villain, but you had yet to see any signs of that side of him. He was holding your hands, for God’s sake. He had so many chances to hurt you, manipulate you, use you against your family, but he hadn’t. He had been a friend and had acted accordingly.

You always saw the attitude change with him. Anytime it was you two, he was more open and gentle, which instantly vanished when someone else walked in. He fascinated you. The way his eyes glimmered when you showed him something, the slight mischievous smirk after he made you laugh, and the way he was trying to make you feel better over a small mistake he made. He wouldn’t have known to not touch you. You had never made a move to show him what would happen.

Reaching up, you tucked a lock of hair behind his ear and smiled. It didn’t matter what he was in his past to you and you wanted him to know that. By the way he smiled, you assumed he did. As you pulled away from him to go back to the main tower area, you had on though distracting you; his hair was soft.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What was he thinking?

Loki paced his room, running his hands angrily through his raven hair. He wasn’t supposed to get attached, that was the last thing he was supposed to do! You weren’t supposed to break down his walls, you weren’t supposed to mean something to him. He couldn’t focus on anything but you when you were close to him, he couldn’t help himself from smiling whenever you looked at him with your beautiful eyes that showed him so much but so little about you. You were too kind to him, too understanding, too…nice. You were nice to a villain who had tried to rule your kind before! Why? All the Avengers still glared at him sometimes when he passed, save for Black Widow. She’d seen how well you had been getting through to him and she had been giving the team updates about the both of you. Steve was still concerned about the amount of time you spent with him, he knew that too. Yet…you had no qualms about being near him. You let him hold your hands and calm you down.

You had even touched him and…and looked at him like he was just any other person.

Like someone who could be loved.

He shook his head. You were different, yes, but you weren’t crazy enough to love a man like him. He was evil, no matter what you did to try and convince him and others, Maybe even yourself. There was no changing what he did in the past, it was bad. He was bad.

And you were good. Everything about you was good. From your attitude to your personality, you were good. Too good for this earth and far too good for him.

He shook his head again and growled out loud to himself. Why did you have to be so perfect and amazing to make it impossible to not love you? Why did you have to be a hero? If you had been a villain like him, maybe he’d allow himself to understand what these confusing feelings are. He hated earth and the stupid emotions that came with it.

But he couldn’t help but feel…something for you. What it was, he didn’t know. He was too conflicted inside his head to comprehend what he felt for you. Maybe it really was the beginning of making a friend. Had he ever really had a friend?

Maybe…maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have one. Especially if it was you.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yall gonna hate me

You noticed how he was acting immediately. He was quieter, more careful of how he acted or interacted with you. It was odd, though maybe it was because of your episode. Either way, he’d been acting strangely. It didn’t necessarily bug you, but it was confusing on why you picked up on it so fast.

You didn’t have a lot of time to think on this, though, it was the monthly check up that Bruce was adamant about you having. Especially when you keep having episodes still, even with the pills he’d been giving you.

“Y/n, how have you been feeling lately?”

You smiled softly, giving him a thumbs up.

He chuckled at you softly, picking up one of the pills he usually gives you. “How have the nanos been affecting your throat lately? Any progress?”

You opened your mouth briefly, then closed it again with a shake of your head. You still couldn’t make yourself say anything, even with the healing nanos. Of course, they were only prototypes that Bruce had been adjusting every now and then, depending on what you could tell him.

He quickly wrote things down as he made sure everything was alright in your body, then sent you out to make yourself some food. Loki was already in the kitchen cooking something you didn’t recognize, but it smelled amazing. You quietly made your way towards him, jumping up to sit on the counter and watch him. He was wearing a green T-shirt and black skinny jeans with an apron over it that he probably found somewhere there. He looked really cute to you, but you quickly shook that thought away. It was hard to do that, though, when he looked up and smiled at you.

“Hungry, Petal?” He asked you softly. He really had been acting more gentle and quiet around you. Not that you minded.

You nodded, still watching him cook curiously.

“It’s food from Asgard, some of my favorites, if I’m honest.” He started explaining as he cooked, and you had just noticed his hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. “It is…very different from your food here, but I really hope you’ll enjoy it, too.”

You nodded again, smiling brightly as he finished up. He washed his hands before handing you your plate and utensils, waiting for you to try it. When you do take a bite, your eyes widened in surprise. It was incredibly good!

“Do you like it?” He chuckled softly, watching your face morph into amazement.

You nodded quickly, continuing to eat the food. If you could make sounds, they’d all be happy ones of deliciousness. It just made Loki keep chuckling at you. You were cute, it really wasn’t fair to him.

“Uh, guys?” Tony’s voice flooded the tower. “I need everyone in the lab real quick, got an announcement.”

You rolled your eyes before stuffing another bite in your mouth and jumping off the counter, leading Loki to the lab with you. Everyone else soon filed in and waited for the announcement.

“Tony, if this is what I think it is,” Steve started, but the billionaire didn’t let him finish.

“I’m hosting a charity ball for a new study for disabilities, mainly for deafness and…muteness.”

You grin brightly at him before it falls. You hated the balls. All those stuffy moneybags who only were there because it was Tony Stark and only gave because it was enforced by him as well. Not to mention, you couldn’t even dance, so what even was the point of you going this time?

The rest of the Avengers just nodded before leaving and you left with your shoulders moving in a sigh. Loki followed you when he saw your odd behavior, not sure what your reaction meant. He put his hand on your shoulder to stop you and turned you towards him.

“Are you really against something…good?” He asked in disbelief.

You chuckled silently before shaking your head, trying to explain. You held your hands in a dance hold you’d seen before before shaking your head at yourself.

“You…can’t dance?” He let out a soft chuckle of his own, making you pout. “That’s the least of your worries. I could teach you.”

You looked up at him curiously before smiling widely. You bet he could dance amazingly with how he was raised by royalty and all. So you nodded in agreement, eager to see what he’d teach you.

“Oh, you want me to teach you now?” His eyes widened a bit, not expecting you to be ready at that exact moment.

You didn’t actually answer him, you rushed to your room to tug on your training outfit as your dance one now, then rush back to him, tugging him to the empty training room. You put your phone on the side after he had picked out some music, but you scrunched your nose up at the old classical waltz type music. However, he was teaching, not you, so you let it be.

He showed you different holds first, finding you learned quite fast then he started on step patterns. You watched your feet to make sure you wouldn’t step on his, though when he caught you doing it, he sighed and cleared his throat, making you look up. Your eyes met his the instant your head rose and you swore you stopped breathing. You two weren’t that close, it was a proper hold that had you both several inches from each other, but that didn’t matter. Your mind and every sense was already focused on how he was. How he was holding you, how he was moving, how he was looking at you…what was that look in his eyes? It was confusing you deeply, but…it didn’t scare you like you felt it should’ve. It made you want to be closer to him.

You had both stopped moving as you just stared at each other, Loki not really knowing what was happening…but he didn’t mind it. He enjoyed the feeling of you being so close to him, enjoying watching your eyes hide so much but show him so many secrets about you and your emotions. All the colors of natured swirled in your eyes, almost looking like a rainbow to him.

Slowly, almost scared to, Loki started leaning towards you, his eyes dropping slightly before looking back up to you. Your breath caught again as you watched him, but just before he could get close enough for your noses to touch, you bolted. You ripped yourself from his arms and grabbed your phone before hightailing it back to your room. Leaning against the door and breathing heavily from running and panic, you pressed a hand to your chest. What was he trying to do? What was happening? Why did you feel like…

No, you couldn’t. This was not happening.

A knock on your door startled you. Would Loki had followed you?

“Honey, you okay?” Natasha asked through the door.

You breathed out a sigh of relief as you opened the door to let her in. She was to get you ready for the ball, which you asked her to do. You just had forgotten for a bit. She helped you dress and style your hair just how you liked it, then gave you small touches of makeup. No mascara, just a light eyeshadow and lipgloss. She thought you’d prefer a more natural makeup for yourself. Looking in the mirror, you almost couldn’t recognize yourself.

“What do you think, sweetie?” She asked quietly, gently rubbing your shoulders.

You smiled lightly, turning and hugging her tightly. She then pulled away to guide you out to where the rest of the group was waiting. Tony was in his usual suit, but with his shirt unbuttoned slightly in a relaxed look. Steve was formal with a red, white, and blue tie that you got him about two years ago on father’s day. Bruce was looking quite nervous in a plain suit with a green handkerchief in his breast pocket. Nat was in a dark red dress that fit her body like a glove. Vision was wearing a suit as well, but he didn’t look like he knew exactly what he was supposed to do. Wanda was wearing a black and red cocktail dress and she looked nervous as well. Thor was taking a page out of Tony’s book with a relaxed look. Then you saw him.

Loki was off on his own a bit in a rich green suit with a black and gold tie around his neck. His hair is slicked back instead of loose, though he still had curls instead of the old spikes. You loved his curls.

Wait, what?

You shook your head to get rid of your thought.

“Alright, guys, let’s get going!” Tony called out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You stood to the side of the room with a small glass of punch. Everyone seemed to avoid you and be drinking until they couldn’t see straight. As usual for Tony’s parties. Well, not everyone was drinking. Bruce, Wanda, Vision, and Loki weren’t drinking and neither with you. You didn’t like the taste. You gently swayed to the music around you, a bit bored, as Steve walked up to you. You had seen him have about half a drink, so he was probably fine. He was a super soldier after all.

“What are you doing here all by yourself?”

You shrugged, rubbing your arms gently.

“Why don’t you dance, Sunflower?”

You shrugged again. No one wanted to dance with you.

Just as Steve was about to say something again, Tony called him over. He sent you an apologetic look before leaving you. You sighed silently before jumping from a tap on your shoulder. No one was near you just a second ago.

“My apologies, Petal,” Loki purred quietly next to you. “But you looked lonely. May I keep you company?”

He seemed to have forgotten earlier when he almost kissed you, so you nodded. You liked his company regardless. He stood next to quietly as you both watched the people around either move to the music or sway because they were so drunk. You shook your head in amusement when you saw Tony trying to pull Pepper somewhere with him, probably to do things you didn’t want to think about.

“Well, this is boring.”

You looked up at Loki in surprise. Sure, he usually spoke his mind, but never so sudden around you.

He looked to you and smirked, making your skin feel like it was burning. “I don’t suppose I could ask you for a dance, could I?”

You really hoped no one could see how much you were blushing, especially him, when you nodded and took his offered hand. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Nat talking to the DJ, then heard So Close playing. You blushed again, knowing how slow and lovey-dovey it was. He gently guided you back into the right hold like he had before and started guiding you slowly. It was really very sweet and nice. You looked down to make sure you couldn’t step on his feet. He chuckled quietly at your self-conscious quirk, making your face flush before you look up at him. He just smiled kindly at you as you danced. With your eyes locked, you realized just how much you were entranced by this man. Everything about him was your life anymore. From how kind he treated you, to how gorgeous he was, everything about him made you feel…feel…

He leaned down slightly again, hesitating after what happened earlier. Your breath hitched ever so slightly as you watched him lean in. Would you pull away this time or let him…

“Get down!”

Smoke filled the room quickly as you felt yourself ripped away from Loki, hands too tight around your upper arms. No one could see you, no one even knew what was happening. Loki coughed and put his arms out to find you. Where did you go?

An unknown voice screamed out in a raspy, harsh tone, but it felt familiar to the team.

“LOKI!”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Some torture

“This is why you should have told her! You gave her a false sense of security!”

“We didn’t know they’d track her here!” Tony yelled back to Loki. Currently, all the Avengers had angry looks or just permanent glares. You’d been taken by what they all assumed was HYRDA. After all, they had you before, why wouldn’t they come after you again?

“She still had the right to know who could be after her!” Loki had started pacing as soon as the party had been called off and he hadn’t stopped yet. Thor was sure he was going to wear a line through the floor. It still amazed the blond brother that Loki cared so much for you and how much you cared about him.

Steve cleared his throat as he stepped up, patting Tony’s shoulder to stop him from getting himself in deeper trouble. “Look, arguing here isn’t going to bring Y/n back to us. We have to go and find her.”

Tony slightly jerked away from his hand, but sighed. “Fine. Avengers, suit up. Then, assemble.”

Loki stayed where he was, Steve patted his shoulder as he passed him. “We’ll get her back, you know.”

“I know…I’m just worried about what will happen to her before we get to her.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You landed on your front, face screwed up in pain as you refuse to make any noise. It would only make your tormentor happy to hear your cries of pain. After screaming for Loki, you refused to let out any other sounds.

“I heard you yell for someone, you little wench.” The man grabbed your hair and pulled your head back. “You might as well ask me who I am, don’t you think so?”

You turned enough to glare at him, then spat in his face.

He sighed, wiping his face off with his sleeve. “If that’s how you wanna play it, kid, so be it.”

He kicked your side before he left, leaving you to curl onto your side. It was the same man who you remembered torturing you all those years, how could he have escaped the Avengers when they found you? They said they’d taken care of them all. You let out a single whimper as you wonder if anyone will come for you this time.

‘Please…Loki…’

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why did you never tell her?” Loki asked Steve as they all flew to the last known HYDRA base.

“It was better if she didn’t know. She had enough nightmares without knowing who hurt her for so long.”

“I can’t believe someone…that he would do that to her. I wouldn’t even stoop that low.”

Thor patted his brother’s back slightly harder than he intended. “Loki, have faith in her strength of heart. She will be fine.”

Loki stayed silent the rest of the flight there, sitting down to polish his knives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is the lily ready to talk?” You watched as the man walked in with a sort of short whip. “I bet you’re wondering who I am. All you have to do is ask me.”

You kept your eyes on him, but said and did nothing. Your eyes held a fire that no amount of pain could extinguish. You would hurt him the second you had a chance.

He sighed, grabbing your chin hard. “Ask me, you bitch.”

“…D-die, monster…” you whispered out, earning you a slap in the face.

“Wrong answer.”

The whip snapped next to your hand on the floor, making you jump and recoil. He grinned maliciously, snapping the whip again. “Try again.”

When you stayed silent, the whip hit your thigh. You had to bite down on your lip until it bled to keep from screaming. You were hit a few more times before he went to leave.

“(Y/n), next time…I suggest you follow the orders your father gives you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There’s a lot of heat signatures in there,” Natasha called out, looking up from her screen. “How do we wanna do this?”

“Teams of two?”

“I’ll take Loki,” Steve said. “We’ll go straight for (Y/n).”

Loki finally looked up.

Tony said he’d go with Bruce, Nat would go with Clint, and Thor would go with Vision. They would rescue you if it killed them. You meant to much to them to let anything worse happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~

When the lights went out, you made your way quickly out of your cell, bent over a bit from the whip marks on your back. You could hear fighting happening somewhere, you could feel it through the floor. You tripped, though, falling onto your face with a whimper.

“L-loki…”

Footsteps ran towards you from both ends of the hall as the lights flickered back on. You nearly screamed when your hair is grabbed and pulled harshly. When your head was pulled back, you see Steve and Loki stopped at the end of the hall.

“Look, my dear. Why don’t you greet them?” He shoved you forward, making Loki look even angrier. Angrier than you had ever seen him before.

“Let her go before I kill you!” He shouted, pulling his daggers out.

Steve grabbed his arm to stop him.

Your father grinned as you stayed still on the floor. “Poor girl. No one can hurt me when they know I have the power to hurt you.”

You saw Steve touch his earpiece and you had a feeling of what the plan was. His lips moved to say, ‘Release Hulk.’

You rolled quickly to the side as Hulk came crashing through the ceiling, letting sunlight stream into the building. He roared before jumping back out to go ruin more of the building. When a slant of sun hit you, your skin almost instantly gained more color, almost like a wave, that also went through your hair. Green started appearing along your skin and through locks of your hair as you started standing up, all your bruises and small cuts healing.

“What just happened?” your father, your tormentor, asked, suddenly scared.

Vines curled down your arms and rested in your hands. Your own whips.

“Karma’s a bitch, Father.”

Steve held back the urge to tell you to watch your language, but even he was pissed by how you’d been treated. Loki could only stare in amazement.

You only had to crack one of your vine whips before he took off running. You sighed softly before looking back to the two men, the vines disappearing before you ran towards them. You nearly bowled Loki over with the force of your hug, pressing your head against his chest as you were so thankful to see him again. Steve smiled, a hint of sadness that you hadn’t hugged him first, but he understood. With a pat to Loki’s shoulder, he left to go tell the others you were safe.

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” Loki muttered against your hair. “By Valhalla, I’m so glad.”

For the first time since you had been there, you smiled. “Loki…” your voice was still only a whisper. 

He gently cupped your cheeks to tilt your head up and, without a moment’s hesitation, you stood on your toes and pressed your lips against his.


	10. Chapter 10

Bruce checked you over when you were brought back to the Tower, though when you had used the sunlight to give yourself power, it’d healed most of your injuries. You were given the clear to leave the medbay, which you were glad about. It was way too clean and white for your taste. You had always preferred green.

And now green and gold.

You smiled to yourself with a flush of embarrassment. You’d discovered that your feelings for Loki went beyond what you’d thought it was before and that he returned them. Granted, it took you being kidnapped and tortured to realize that, but it could’ve been worse. You could’ve almost died without letting him know how you felt. Right?

Flopping onto your bed, you buried yourself into your fluffy pillows that smelled like lavender flowers. You sighed silently as you snuggled into fluffiness more. Then you heard a familiar noise of hissing. Hissy was still there.

Your eyes met it’s green and golden flecked ones. The colors swirled and you were reminded of the God of Mischief so much. Why did he choose to give you a snake, though? Maybe…that’s how he saw himself and it was like giving you a piece of himself? Who knew with how his mind worked. But you wanted to try and learn.

“Petal?”

Speak of the devil.

You put Hissy on your shoulder before getting up to open the door. Loki smiled at you before you let him step in.

“You still have him?” He asked with surprise in his voice.

You nodded, petting the snake’s head with a single finger. He was just so tiny.

He watched you with a hooded expression, not sure why he’d come to your room. He just needed to see you alright, he supposed. You were too special to him for him not to be at least a little worried. No, he was majorly worried. After you had kissed him, you’d basically passed out and he had carried you back to the Tower. He hadn’t let anyone else touch you, though everyone could see how it was secretly killing Steve to not be the one to take care of you. You had been his little girl since you were found. He didn’t love that you were growing up before his eyes, but Nat had always told him he couldn’t hold on forever. And now he saw that he couldn’t.

You tilted your head slightly as you watched him fight with himself. Was he trying to figure out what to say about you being captured or about the kiss?

What if he really didn’t like you how you thought he did?

When he noticed the conflict in your eyes, he gently cupped one of your cheeks in his hand, his thumb gently brushing against your cheekbone. “What’s wrong, love?”

That was new and it sent heat up your neck to your cheeks. You gave him a small smile and shook your head. Since being brought back, you hadn’t said a word. You didn’t think you had to. If anything, you preferred not talking. You hadn’t needed it your entire life, so why should now be any different. Besides…talking reminded you of your father.

“You haven’t said anything since you’ve woken up,” he murmured, looking down at you with his icy blue eyes. You loved his eyes.

“Why won’t you talk? I love your voice. Even if I haven’t heard it much.” He smiled softly, thumb still brushing your skin.

‘It’s hard,’ you signed, but he took your hands in his tightly.

“No cheating,” he teased, but his eyes held a serious look.

You pouted, which only made him smile more. You were much too cute when you acted childish.

“Please, darling?”

You pulled a face as tried to force words past your lips. “…h…”

“Keep going,” he encouraged you, even though you started shaking your head.

“H….ha…rd…”

“I know, Petal. I wouldn’t force you to if I knew you couldn’t do this.”

You shook your head again, leaning forward to put your head against his chest. However, he moved his hands again and tilts your head back up to rest his forehead against yours. You closed your eyes as a smile started pulling at your lips. Your fear of him not returning your feelings? Completely gone now.

“You are so special, Petal. Do you realize that?” He whispered to you, tilting his head up to place a small kiss to your brow.

‘I can guess,’ you traced against his chest. He wasn’t in his leather suit, instead, it was just a dark green shirt and black jeans.

He chuckled softly, moving back slightly to tilt your head up. “You can guess, yes. But I doubt you’ll get very close to the true amount of how special you are.”

You blushed then, finding your eyes locked with his. Damn him and his hypnotizing gaze. He seemed to notice as well, teasingly leaning closer to you before pulling away with a smirk. You pouted again. ‘Just kiss me, dammit!’ you thought to yourself, too embarrassed to say anything like that out loud.

“Sunflower, you’re needed-…Loki.” Steve said politely, though you could hear an underlying warning to his tone.

Loki stepped away, clearing his throat. “Ah, yes…Captain America, we were just…”

“Y/n, Nat wants you to train with her. Okay?”

You nodded, sending Loki a small apology look before following Steve out to the training room. His posture looked tense to you, so you bump into his side, trying to get his attention.

‘What’s wrong?’

He sighed, putting his arm around your shoulders. “You weren’t supposed to grow up. Or fall in love. At least not this quickly.”

You smiled, stopping him in the hallway to give him a tight hug. When you pulled away, you signed, ‘If you think it means you’ll lose me, you won’t. I love you and this team too much to leave you.’

He pulled you close again. “I know…still doesn’t make it any less hard to let go.”


	11. Chapter 11

Loki watched as your cupped hands gently dropped the dirt they held into his. He hadn’t realized Tony had a special garden room he’d made for you to spend time in, nor did he realize how at peace you looked surrounded by plants and flowers. He also noticed, though you did not, that your hair had started sprouting small little colorful flowers itself, meaning you were happy and your emotions were expressed a different way. It was actually very cute, a different little quirk of yours thanks to your powers, and he was fond of every little thing about you.

You looked up slightly when you noticed his eyes on you, wondering if something was wrong. However, he just looked at you with a very soft, affectionate smile. You dropped your head slightly, a vine falling in front of your face, and then you noticed that it was coming from your hair as well.

“Have I told you,” he said quietly, “that you are one of the cutest females I have ever laid my eyes upon?”

Your cheeks tinted pink. He’d been giving you more compliments lately, maybe to only see your blush, but you didn’t mind.

You leaned over to put your hands over his, nodding your head down so he would watch the dirt as well. When he did, you started using your powers to grow little flowers in his hands. He looked surprised for a second before he looked at you in amazement. Whenever you used your powers, it always left him in wonder of you. You had such a strong ability, but you had such a gentle use of it. The only time he’d seen you be violent with them was when you confronted your father and all you did was threaten him. Just threaten him. If it had been Loki in your place, he was sure that man would be screaming in pain or silent forever for hurting you. For ever touching you.

Slowly, he moved his hands so the dirt would fall back into yours before his hands cupped your cheeks. He tilted your head up slightly, eyes narrowing at the scar on your throat from where they took your voice and the scars showing from your short sleeved shirt on your arms, before his blue eyes locked with yours. You knew he was angry at the people who hurt you, you had always known he would be. You couldn’t help but lean into his hands, feeling how cool his skin is in comparison to your own. Of course, it would be, he’s a Frost-Giant, you just had forgotten. You forgot because it wasn’t what he was. He’s just Loki.

“Petal,” his voice was barely a whisper, “I don’t know what you see when you look at me. There is so much about me you don’t know. So much that I have done.”

Your eyes flicked over his face, then going back to his eyes. His eyes. A million things seemed to be swirling through his head, a hundred secrets in him. You knew you might never know them all, but knowing he could show you through his emotions. He was so open with you in a way no one you’ve ever known anyone to be like.

You both jumped away from each other when shouting through the building happens. You’re scrambling up before you realize. Loki disappeared in a flash of bright green light as you rushed out of your forested room, running down the halls towards one of the holding rooms. Thor and Tony were already blocking the door, to you anyway, but you ducked down and push between them, coming to stand a little to the left of Steve.

Dark eyes glared back at you before sparking with recognition.

“Sold…ier.”

“Bucky,” Steve said after you do. “Winter Soldier. I’m sure you know Y/n, but probably better as-”

“Lilie.”

The German name grated on your ears, making you wince. It brought back too many bad memories. Carefully moving past Steve, you walked up to the cell that holds the Winter Soldier. Your family kept close eyes on the both of you. If you had bad blood with Bucky, they’d have to stop you before your emotions made you do something bad. If he had bad blood with you, if it was trained into him, then they’d have to make sure he couldn’t get to you.

However, no one expected, especially not Loki who had walked in behind you, for you to smile at him. You had seen him a few times when you had passed different areas of the facility you were kept in, you knew he was another experiment of their twisted minds.

“Help,” you whispered, seeing him tilt his chin up and take a deep breath.

“Pe-Y/n, please step away from the…the…”

“No, please finish that sentence, Reindeer Games,” Tony said with a frustrated edge in his voice. “I’d love to hear what you call him.”

You turned towards them with a completely unamused face, arms crossing over your chest. Now was really not the time for this at all. You had changed Loki to become a good man. Couldn’t you do that again? Maybe Steve could help you too.

“That man is a part of the same group that kidnapped her, twice if I can add that, and tortured her for years. Now, I understand mercy, but I don’t see how you could bring him here with her here as well.”

You cleared your throat as loud as you could, feeling a twinge of pain in your throat before walking up to them both.

‘He never touched me. If it was someone who actually had, I would be the first in line to have them put away for good.’

“I think we should try,” Steve agreed with you. “But I don’t think you should do it this time, Sunflower.”

With a slightly disappointed sigh, you nod, letting yourself be pulled away and out of Bucky’s sight. At least he wouldn’t be put away for something he couldn’t control.

“You’re too good of a kid,” Tony muttered, pulling you into a side hug. “Now, I won’t say this again, but…you should go with Reindeer Games and stay out of trouble.”

You felt Loki’s cool hand against your wrist, gently like you would break, tugging you towards the halls again. “Come on. I do believe you are allowed a break from changing men’s moral compasses.”

That made a small snort escape you as you both leave the Avengers to Bucky. Loki guided you back to his room, your sight being filled with the calming mix of green, gold, black, and white. He had used his magic to redecorate what had once been an entirely white room. For the first time since you had seen the green light, you noticed Loki was in his Asgardian garb. His leather suit, horned helmet, cape, and scepter, though since it lacked the Tesseract anymore, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore. It was odd to see him like that. Like he was as a villain before.

You tugged his hand slightly, your head tilted as you looked up at his helmet. It made him chuckle, the look in your eyes.

“Something catch your fancy, Petal?” His smirk made you think he was thinking of himself.

Your cheeks turned a bright pink as you swatted his arm, then pointed at his helmet.

“I know what you were looking at, darling,” he chuckled again, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Is something wrong with it?”

You shook your head, knowing you still had his hand in your own. He carefully pulled it off his head, his hair falling back into place as usual. Absolutely nothing seemed to make him look perfect. He turned you to face the mirror on the back of his door, letting go of your hand with some hesitance. He liked how it felt warm, how it felt like it fit perfectly in his. However, he wanted to keep you from thinking about Bucky too much.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him move his hand and more green magic swirled around you. You made a sound similar to a squeal before it cleared, making you blink as you saw what you looked like now.

You now wore an all too big familiar helmet, a cape dragging on the floor a few inches, and a scepter in your hands. You were wearing Loki’s things, not his leather armor though. He still had that on as he walked up behind you.

“I do believe you wear those better than I, love.”

You smiled, pushing the helmet back a bit and out of your eyes. You looked weird, but…you liked it.

You felt his hands turn you around by your shoulders, standing just far away enough for the scepter to be held between the both of you.

“Well, my lovely princess,” he nearly purred, making you blush again. “Do you wish to use that scepter on me?”

Your brows furrowed slightly. Didn’t he realize that it didn’t work anymore? When he winked, you realized he just wanted to tease you even more. After sending him a small look of “Alright, you weirdo”, you gently tapped his chest with the scepter. He smirked again, waiting as you put it down before stepping up to you.

“And what would you tell me to do, princess?”

You tapped your lips, almost embarrassedly. He teasingly leaned down and placed a small kiss on your lips before he backs away, an even bigger smirk on his face. You shook your head and, in a small burst of confidence, like you had when he and Steve had found you, you leaned up and gave him another kiss. He wrapped his arms around your waist when you did and you knew that that’s what he wanted all along from you.

He was the God of Mischief for a reason.


	12. Random Fluffy Flower Girl Oneshot

Pulling the beanie over your head, you heard Loki sigh behind you. You wanted to go out of the tower today, so you were taking your…what was he to you? Boyfriend? You knew you had fallen hard for him, you could probably even say you loved him, but neither of you were ones to sit down and talk about what you were. You knew he cared about you. That’s all that was needed.

Anyway, you were taking him with you out on the town. You didn’t think he’d actually left the tower since he was brought here and you bonded.

Besides, you desperately wanted a coffee you didn’t have to make in the morning.

Loki was unamused as he was dressed up in a dark green sweatshirt and black jeans, a black scarf loosely tied around his neck. He was adorable to you, but he could care less. He preferred it if you would stay with him either in your room or the library and just cuddle with him. He liked your hair running through his fingers as he read. Most of the time, you ended up falling asleep in his lap when he did that, which he often found utterly adorable.

And, no, he definitely did not have pictures on his phone that you insisted he had so you could text him instead of signing everything to him when you weren’t alone. Don’t look for them. Those images don’t exist.(Right, no one believes that)

Turning around, you shrugged on your combat jacket with flower and Avenger patches on it, looking at him curiously. He was pouting.

You wanted to kiss him.

Your hand found its way to his, your other arm wrapping around his. It brought him out of his pouty mood enough to watch the happiness and love swirl in your colorful eyes. He would swear to himself that your eyes were even more hypnotizing than his own.

“Very well, love, you don’t have to give me puppy eyes to get your way,” he teasingly said, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

You giggled, the sound very faint but audible. Gently, you tugged him out of your room and down to the street, swinging his hand between the two of you. His long fingers fit perfectly between yours and the weight of his palm brought comfort along with warmth. Even when you had layers of clothes on, the cold wind still bit at your face. New York weather wasn’t very forgiving, you had learned that the first week you were at the Tower.

Both of you walked silently together, none of the civilians around you paying you any mind. It was funny, he was the only one you could walk with that didn’t cause fangirls/boys swarm you or try to push you away from whoever you were with. It almost made you upset that no one else liked him. Almost.

You had to admit, you liked that you could have him to yourself.

Loki couldn’t help the smile on his face every time he’d glance down at you. Your joy never seemed to have a limit to it and it made him marvel(ha) at the fact that you loved him. Him! Of all the mortals and deities in the known, and unknown, worlds, you loved him. You wanted to be around him.

You tugged him into the warm and delicious air of your favorite cafe, stopping to pet the owner’s cat who was in its perch in the window before waving to one of the baristas. She waved back, eyeing Loki suspiciously when she saw you were holding his hand.

That only made you giggle again.

The barista leaned against the counter as you both came over, giving you a warm smile. “Hey, (Y/n), the usual today?”

You nodded, gently squeezing Loki’s hand since he seemed to have grown tense in the new atmosphere.

The barista, whose name he noticed was Jacey on her name tag, turned her attention to him next. “And how about you, sir? What would you like?”

His blue eyes flicked up to the board that had all their drinks and sweets. “Um…peppermint cappuccino? I am not too familiar with you mo-”

Your elbow connected with his side just hard enough to cut him off and he cleared his throat.

“I am not too familiar with the drinks here, miss.”

Jacey nodded slowly, then looked at you. Her eyes had a slight teasing look along with approval. You had been coming to this cafe so often that you and Jacey had formed a rather strong friendship, even with the language barrier with your ASL. You two definitely made an interesting pair, since she never knew when it was a good time to not talk.

She sent you a wink before going off to make your drinks and you pulled Loki to your favorite table. He, of course, was a gentleman and pulled your chair out for you, then pushed you back in easily. It made you giggle again. He loved your laugh.

He looked around the cafe curiously, looking to see if he could find what made you love this place so much. It was cozy and, from how excited you were, he assumed that it made excellent coffee.

“We could have had coffee at home, you know,” he commented with an air of humor.

You pulled a face and shook your head. ‘I’d have to make it.’

“Have you thought of letting someone else make it?”

‘Tony makes it black as night, Thor can’t figure it out, and Steve only uses Folgers. It’s better if I make it.’

He chuckled softly, the sound filling your chest with warmth and making your heart swell with even more joy. He’d come so far since you met him. When he wouldn’t even talk to you.

Maybe the chocolate sweetened him up.

Jacey called out your order and Loki got up before you did, walking to the counter to grab the drinks. She very seriously leaned forward to whisper to him.

“Break her heart and I’ll break your nose. She’s too sweet to be messed with, alright?”

His smirk replaced the smile he had only for you. “I’m surprised you didn’t say you’d kill me. And I wouldn’t dare hurt her. Not in a thousand years.”

Satisfied with his answer, she grinned. “Have a great day, sir.” And then she went back to work.

He carefully handed you your hot cup, your smile even bigger than her grin had been. You were so childish, it was almost too cute.

‘Try yours first,’ you encouraged, making a shooing motion after.

He rolled his eyes playfully but did as he was told, blowing on the cup before taking a sip. To draw out your suspense since you wanted his reaction so badly, he hummed and tilted his head in thought. That drew a pout out of you and you gently nudged his foot under the table.

‘Come on, say something!’

As soon as his eyes landed on your adorable pout, he broke out into his own soft giggled, catching you slightly off guard. You weren’t sure you’d ever heard him laugh like that.

“It is quite good, darling. I may have to drag you here the next time.”

His wink sent butterflies soaring in your stomach. You realized he’d been messing with you on purpose and that made your pout more pronounced, but your effort was wasted when you cracked and smiled.

There was absolutely no way you could be angry at this man.

You both sat in the cafe as you finished your drinks, the cat coming up to you after a while and jumping onto your lap, begging for attention. Loki watched how gentle you were when you petted it, your expression pure happiness and serenity. He swore that you could be a goddess in the guise of a mortal. He wouldn’t be surprised if you were.

You gently placed the cat down and laced your fingers with Loki’s again. Jacey sent you both a smile and thumbs up as you left the cafe, walking home blissfully.

“I do believe this has been our first date.”

You looked up at the god of mischief, a smile on your face. You nodded in agreement, holding onto his arm loosely as you walked back into the Tower and into your room. Hissy greeted the two of you before hiding back into the vines. Loki winced slightly. He had never told you that Hissy was his eyes when he wanted.

You patted your bed after you had crawled onto it, breaking him out of his thoughts. Without any hesitation, he joined you, letting you cuddle as close as you wanted to him. You were still warm and happy from the cafe and being with him, so it was really no wonder when he noticed your eyes fluttering closed when he started playing with your hair.

He pressed a soft kiss to your hairline before whispering, “I will always protect you, my darling.”

You fell asleep with a smile on your face, your dreams turning to the joy you know you’ll continue to have with your god.


End file.
